In This Together
by SniperCT
Summary: Two years after Yamatai, Lara and Sam are exploring ruins in Central America. They uncover their feelings for each other, and a new mystery to explore, along with assorted dangers. Alternating first person perspective.
1. 1 - Lara

It has been two years since Yamatai. Two years of nightmares and of being startled by suspicious sounds. Two years of throwing myself into my father's journal and his work. Two years of trying to _understand_. If something like Yamatai could exist, what other myths and legends had more truth than fiction? It keeps me busy, and being busy keeps me sane.

So does Sam. She keeps the terrors away at night, as I'm sure my presence does the same to hers. We've talked some, both of us reluctantly, and there's still so much left unsaid. I didn't want her to come with me on my mad quests, but she's a stubborn girl, and has her own mad quest to document everything I've found. Truthfully, I'm happy to have her around. As much as I fear for her safety, I know I can keep an eye on her. I know she's safe, if I can see her. It's selfish.

I fiddle with the camera mounted to my shoulder as I wade through knee deep water in a cave. It was my concession for making Sam stay at the camp while I explored this ruin. There are paintings over head, and I document several ancient altars. The sound of my own voice is strange to my ears, but I explain each find as best I can, trying to make things entertaining. I'm sure I'll bore people, but I trust Sam with the editing. She's brilliant that way.

As I pause to explain a sculpture, I notice the water has risen. It's been raining for some time now, and I shine my torch around, taking stock of the situation. I can't go back, it's downhill and water is now blocking the way I came. I find myself talking as I move deeper into the caverns.

"The water is rising faster than I anticipated. The entrance must be submerged by now, and I need to get higher."

I lift my head, unhooking the climbing axe at my belt as I spot a possible exit. It's not the one I had on Yamatai, but higher quality and without the memories associated with it. Still, as I grip it in my fingers, I remember the resistance of both stone, and bone. It feels exactly the same when I lodge it into the cave wall.

The water is up to my waist by now, and I start to climb. Sam says I have a second sense when it comes to scaling rocks. My muscles burn as I test a hand hold and haul myself into a crevice. Water splashes my face, and I can feel and hear the wind. There's an exit up ahead, and I climb towards it. I hazard a glance down and see the water is following me. I don't think this could just be the rain. Maybe the tide was coming in.

Above me is a sheer rock face. Desperately, I search for hand holds or places to use the axe, and my speed slows down dramatically. I'm still too far from the ledge to safely jump. I look at the water and how it's churning. I could wait and see if I could just float up, but there's no telling what kind of current could pull me down. I feel my gut clench up and my chest constrict, but I fight back the panic. Like so many times before, I push away the fear, and focus on the goal.

_"Lara!"_

Sam's voice is so unexpected and sudden, I nearly lose my grip on the wall. Light flashes in my eyes, and I can see Sam dangling off the ledge. She had put her camera on a harness as well. This must be a hell of a shot. "Sam? What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving your cute butt, sweetie!" Sam sounded exasperated. I could see her face in the light of my own torch, but her hair obscured most of it. In other circumstances I would have found it endearing.

I let the frustration into my voice. "I told you to stay at camp!"

She reaches down for me. "Just grab my hand! I've got you!"

It was still a leap. I looked at the water again, and at her outstretched hand. My eyes followed the lines of her arm, across her shoulders. It looked like she had a secure hold..

"Lara, hurry!"

"Hell…" I jump.


	2. 2 - Sam

I'm expecting Lara to be mad, or upset. I know she gets a little paranoid about my safety, but I like to think by now I've proven I'm not just a defenseless damsel that needs to be saved all the time. I'm there, holding her when the night terrors come. I mean, I'm afraid of the dark now, but I've got a Croft-shaped security blanket so it's okay.

So she hugs me and and tells me _thank you_. We're kneeling in the mud, rain pouring down on us and she's thanking _me_? "It's only fair, right? You saved me how many times? I owe you everything."

"Don't say that." She's looking at me funny, and I have to ignore the flutter in my stomach. "You don't owe me anything."

She doesn't get it, but that's all right. I haul us to our feet. "Maybe you think I don't, but you didn't just save my life."

Lara gets this little smile. It's sort of like a cross between a bashful grin and a smirk. "You did help me out of that mess in Peru."

Taking her hand, I laugh as we twine our fingers together. "Oh my god, can we not talk about Peru?" I'm a little relieved. I'm not sure I want to talk about saving my soul right now. It's a little too heavy of a conversation.

"I still can't believe you put that outfit on," she continues. The rain is letting up a little, and we start to walk back to camp. I want to get a look at the video and my fingers are itching to get ahold of her camera, but I don't ask her about what she found in the ruins yet. I'm enjoying the moment.

"Anything for you, sweetie." I'm glancing at her out from beneath my hair, and I feel her fingers push some of it back. We've always been close. Close enough to endure teasing from our friends, close enough that Roth once asked me my intentions towards Lara. That was an awkward conversation.

"You were the reason, you know. What kept me going, through the pain, and the … everything else." We stop, and I'm staring at her as I try to process what she's saying. She has that look on her face again. Like she's looking into me, studying all of me. It's almost predatory, and she gets that way sometimes. Ever since Yamatai.

It always seems to go back to that god forsaken island. I only know half the things she did. The things she calls out in her sleep. I know she killed, I know she suffered, and all because of me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I put you through all of that." It's probably the hundredth time I've said that.

"Sam, don't. It wasn't your fault."

"And it wasn't yours."

"I know." She closes her eyes, and this time I'm the one tucking a damp bit of fringe behind her ear. "I try to tell myself that. It's been how long and it still haunts us?"

"Like a bad boyfriend." I'm elated to see the smile on her face.

She has this way of sounding long-suffering when she wants to be, and it's endearing. "Yes, like that, Sam."

My back is to a tree, and she's hugging me again. I can feel every curve of her body pressed against mine. Our clothes are clinging to our skin and there's nothing much left to the imagination. I know every scar. I traced them at night. It started as sort of touch therapy. To help her trust again. They're a part of her now, and she's had to learn to accept that. My thumb finds its way to that terrible one on her stomach. She reacts as she always does, her stomach muscles flexing, and a sharp inhalation of air.

Lara puts her hands on my hips, and I look up at her. I give her my most coy smile. "For a woman who almost drowned, you're in a good mood." It was kind of a cuddly mood, but I wasn't going to complain.

"Except for that, it's been a pretty good day. I got some really great footage that you're going to go crazy over. And I got to be the damsel today."

I laugh, and place my left hand on her shoulder. I can't help it, and move my fingers to the back of her neck. Lara has this gorgeous face, and she is giving me a new kind of look. Almost new, but this is the first time I've seen that expression on her face when she knew I was looking. "Yeah? Well I'm not carrying your fat ass down any mountain."

"Peru…"

"I didn't_ carry_ you." She was never going to let me live Peru down. But maybe that's not a bad thing. Maybe because I proved to her that I wasn't helpless. I could hold my own and not be dead weight. I could be her equal. And that was important to me. I'm not going to let her leave me behind at camp again. I hope tonight proved that, too.

"Sam, I…" Lara was flustered. It was cute, really. She wasn't the best when it came to interpersonal things. We're usually pretty smooth with each other, but sometimes she gets like this.

"You what?" I don't try to stop myself this time. We keep dancing around it. She means the world to me. She saved my _soul._ Even before that, she was such a huge part of my world. I literally don't know what I'd do if she wasn't in my life.

She seems to be wrestling with her words, but the emotion on her face is obvious. My fingers dig into her neck and I do the only thing that makes sense. I kiss her.


	3. 3 - Lara

Sam's kissing me. We're standing in the rain, covered in mud and she's kissing me. Her lips are ridiculously soft, and I can feel every inch of her damp body against mine. I press her into the tree, soaking up the taste of her.

I'm snogging my best friend in a forest in Costa Rica. I don't know who breaks for air, but my skin is tingling and our ghosts seem very far away. I should have done this a long time ago, but maybe neither of us were ready.

"Sam…" My throat is closed off. I feel her lips on my jaw, and then my neck. I turn my head and she's kissing my ear. It makes my legs go weak and I lean into her more. I don't want her to stop, but I don't want to continue without knowing what we were doing. What this was. Sam's relationships could usually be counted in weeks or days. I didn't want to lose the other half of me over a mistake.

"Shh." She blows into my ear and if the tree wasn't holding us up I might have fallen over. How she knew my weak points, I don't know.

"Does this feel weird to you?" I manage to pull my head away, pushing wet hair out of my face. Her hand quickly replaces mine, so I move mine to her cheek.

"No." Sam kisses me again. "You?"

"Hunh. Uh. No." I feel a little dazed. Climb a cliff? No problems. Take down a charging wolf? Child's play. Deal with my emotions for Sam? God help me, I'm hopeless. "It feels good. I just...I've had ...you're more than a friend to me, Sam."

"You can say it, sweetie." She gets this smile on her face. Her smile is always bright, and beaming, and puts a warmth into my chest every single time. It's extra warm today, and spreads down into my stomach. "You _loooooove_ me."

"Do you love me?"

"Say it." Her fingers are in the hairs on the back of my head again. She could probably convince me to sign over my fortune to the nearest beggar by doing that. "I love you, Sam."

"I love you too." The way she says the words comes out in a rush. I realize she must have been holding them back too. I'm flooded with relief. Some trepidation too, and more of that warmth. I pull back.

"Lets get back to camp. We need to get the footage off these cameras…" I trail off as I realize that the cameras are still recording. "Oh shit!"

Sam starts laughing as I scramble to turn mine off. She grabs my hands, then hits the power on first mine, then hers. I'm sure for effect so she could have the undoubtedly amusing look on my face a few seconds longer.

"I was wondering when you'd notice."

"You knew?" I can't believe her! She knew the cameras were rolling and still let me… make a fool of myself. Of course she knew. I should be used to cameras in my face by now. I feel her thumb stroke across my cheek, and I feel my agitation lesson. "Sam…"

"Sorry." She kisses my nose, and I can't help smiling along with the impish one on her face. "I just can't resist you. You're totally made for the camera. I might have to distract you from the hidden one in our tent."

"_Sam!_" It's not even the camera thing that makes my cheeks burn, but the insinuation of what she has in mind.

She looks at me with this predatory hunger, and I feel that warmth in my stomach coil up like a spring. It's a sensation i'm all too familiar with from nights where she caresses my scars. I sometimes feign sleep just so that she would do it longer. It used to be bad - bring back memories and fears, but over time it turned into something good.

Her expression makes me bold, but even so, I'm a bit surprised by my own words. "I was going to offer to share a sleeping bag, but I think we're going to need more room than that."


	4. 4 - Sam

I think for the first time in a long while I slept through the night. We got to sleep really late, but we _slept_. We were tangled together when I woke up, and it was this crazy, wonderful thing. I've been with women before. Lara calls me a free spirit, which I think is her nice way of calling me a slut. I just like to have fun, and sex is a lot of fun. It can get really empty, though.

Last night wasn't empty. I don't think Lara's ever bothered to be with anyone, but she must had researched. Hah. Leave it to Lara Croft to research _that_. No complaints, but it's not the orgasms I'm thinking about. That's actually the strangest part about this. Usually? I'm all gung-ho about sex. After a good semester I go on what Lara called sex rampages. I'm sure most of those guys don't mind at all.

I look at her sleeping face. She's at peace. The darkness that so often rests there is gone. I trace her lips, careful to not wake her, and sigh. Last night meant something and I'm terrified of that. But we can't go back to the way things were. We've spent two years chasing demons and being chased by them. We went through hell together, and for each other. God, I thought she'd never smile at me again. For a long time there was just this hardness in her eyes, and those shadows in her face. But wounds heal with time, and a great deal of effort on my part. Somewhere along the way, I'd healed too.

Over the past two years, I'd gone on another sort of sex rampage. Sort of… like I was searching for something, or trying to remind myself I was alive, but it always came down to them not being her. They weren't_ Lara_ and I can't imagine how much I've hurt her over this. I wasn't trying to. But the way she looked last night when she started to lose herself in me told me everything. That thing I'd been looking for was her.

There are spots where her tears had dried. I wipe at them, but decide not to point them out to her. They were good tears but I know I wouldn't want her pointing out that I'd cried during sex. I follow the line of her jaw, and then my eyes fall to the gentle rise and fall of her chest, and I tug the blanket down. I caress her tenderly, and get a wicked thought. I replace my fingers with my lips. I'm still tender, I'm still gentle, but she tastes _amazing_. Even dirty and rumpled like this, her skin is like that...nectar of the gods stuff. Ambrosia.

I get the rest of the blanket off of her, and move to the next stage of my devious plan. I should have realized how stupid it was to shock awake someone who sleeps with an axe under their pillow. I've barely begun and her legs tighten around my head. Nails dig into my scalp. Lara could have snapped my neck with her thighs. That's not a bad way to go (her thighs are amazing) but the look on her face breaks my heart.

Her voice is a little shakey, and gone is the warrior I'd accidently woken. "Sam...oh god...I'm so sorry!"

I place a finger on her lips, crawling up her body and cradling against her. I feel her arms tighten around me. "Lara, shh. I'm sorry. I didn't think. I forgot how jumpy you can get."

"I could have _killed_ you."

"It's okay." I try to still my shaking, especially when I realize her hand is still around the handle of her climbing axe. Instead of freaking out like I want to, I reach down and pry her fingers off of it. "It's okay. It's okay. Now I know to let you wake up more slowly, that's all."

I feel her relax against me, and I start to relax too. Her voice sounds like she's speaking around rocks, "We should look at that footage, and then we'll go explore that other site I marked on the map."

I smile, knowing what she's doing. She's going to her happy place, but better than that, she's taking me with her. We're okay. We'll be okay. "Sweetie. I love you."

She gets this dorky smile on her face.


	5. 5 - Lara

"I love you too, Sam." The prospect of exploring again, and the way that Sam said those words made me smile. I'm happy. There's still that fear in my gut, but I'm happy.

The terror is receding. I could have killed her, or hurt her. As it is, she'll probably have a stiff neck for awhile. What was she_ thinking_!? God, it wasn't like I hadn't daydreamed about her doing that, but … none of those day dreams ever involved being startled awake and… it's scary just how easily I could have done it.

It's been impossible to explain what it's like to kill a person. She never had to. I'm _grateful_ she never had to. But it's the one thing that we can't relate on. It's Reyes who understands. We have our disagreements, but she helped me come to terms with what I'd done. I'm not through it, not by any stretch of the imagination. But it helped.

I start to slide out from the tangle of blankets in my tent, but Sam catches my hand and pulls me back on top of her. I slide my hands along her arms, and then pin her wrists above her head. She trusts me. God, I'd be freaking out if our positions were reversed, but there's just trust in her eyes, and the way she's squirming… dark thoughts flee to the recesses of my mind as I kiss her. I like this. I like being in control, I like knowing I can make her respond to me. I love knowing that she loves it. Maybe we can have that good morning wake-up call after all.

It's nearly noon by the time we crawl out of the tent. Sam keeps laughing, for no particular reason, and laughter spills from my mouth too. I hold her for a time, kissing her and enjoying the closeness, before I set to the task ahead. Since we wasted so much time this morning, it's granola bars for breakfast. I'm storing artifacts from the cave last night to make room in my pack while Sam replaces the batteries to her camera and hooks the old ones to a solar charger. She's secured the memory cards as well. It'll be a fresh start.

We hike in silence at first, but it's not too long before I realize she has her camera on and is recording the trip. I glance at her, my lips finding an easy smile.

"What's that there? Is that the mythical Croft? It appears as though she's just been through the mating ritual of her species. You can tell from the state of her hair and the blush on her cheeks that she enjoyed herself very, very much."

I stop walking, embarrassment burning at my face. "Sam!"

"You can identify a Croft," Sam continues, ignoring my distress. "By the practical way in which she wears her hair. A Croft is often attired in khakis or cargo pants, and wears hiking boots everywhere. Crofts are rarely fashion conscious and rely upon their mates to survive an urban environment. However, when lost in the woods, or among dusty old tombs, you can find no better companion than a Croft."

"I'm going to dunk your camera in a lake," I threaten, but she just rolls her eyes at me. "So you're my mate, then?"

"Oh, yes. Nishimuras easily fall under the sway of a Croft's seductive gaze."

Okay, she wants to play like this, I can play along. And if it backfires, we can just pretend we were playing around. "Crofts are like certain species of birds. They bond for life, with just one mate, and don't take well to the mate straying."

I see Sam swallow from behind the camera's viewfinder, but she maintains her smile and her composure. "Oh sweetie. Don't you know that a Nishimura only flutters from nest to nest until she finds herself a Croft?"

The laughter bubbles up out of me before I could stop it. I can hear her joining me and it takes a few minutes before we're able to start walking again. I've got a huge smile on my face as I feel her hand find mine, and our fingers thread together.

My smile only gets bigger when we pass a weathered statue. I'm where I belong, with who I belong.


	6. 6 - Sam

You know, in hindsight, I should have realized it sooner. From how close we were, and just how often Lara's ass ended up in my shots. Like right now, for instance, she's crawling ahead of me. I have to get this shot, it's the only shot available. Really! It's a great shot. I'm sure I can edit in a few seconds of it to help draw people in, but I lift the camera a bit, if only because I can imagine Lara's reaction.

I'm not really paying much attention to anything else. Lara's talking about the age of the ruins, and I don't catch it, but I can look at the video later. There's this gorgeous shot of her standing atop a crumbling, moss covered wall, the sun shining behind her. That would make the _perfect_ cover shot. Fortunately, she's standing still long enough. I make sure to get as steady a shot as possible. We can take a still for the cover, and I already have plans for the full shot. It would be a great way to end the whole documentary. With Lara's silky voice narrating.

I'm so preoccupied that I don't notice the ground shifting until I'm suddenly falling. My mind fills with nasty images of being impaled by spikes, or devoured by piranha, but I land on something hard. Dazed, I look around, flicking the light on my camera on to get a better look at where I landed.I see carved faces looking back at me. They're creepy. There's a sense of being watched, but with so many eyes looking at me, I don't know from where.

My light doesn't quite reach the top of the pit that I fell into, but it seems to open out into tunnels. They're damp from last night's rain and my clothing is now muddy. I look up again and call out, "Lara? Lara I'm down here!"

"Oh god," Her voice is distant, but I can hear panic in it. I can imagine her drawing her gun and looking around frantically, and try to scramble up the face of the pit, only to slid back down. She's really hot when she gets focused, but I don't want her panicking just because of me.

"Lara!"

"Sam!" I see her head peek over the edge and peer down into the pit. "Are you okay? What happened? Don't scare me like that!"

"I'm fine, it's not like a bunch of stone statues are going to come to life!" Even as I say it, I feel the hair at the back of my neck stand straight up, and I shine the camera back at the carvings. They're not moving, but they're judging me. I point two fingers at them, watching you style. "You know what, forget I said that."

"That's what we said in _Peru_, Sam!" The tenseness in her voice makes me cringe, and I edged back away from the carvings. Statues beat the hell out of Oni and cultists, but I don't want to upset her more. She gets this crack in her voice when she's really worried. It's sweet but heartbreaking, so I can't stand hearing it.

"You might want to come down here, sweetie. There's a tunnel! We should see where it leads! I'll be there's something really cool." There's more sugar and calmness in my voice than I'm feeling. I head down the tunnel, careful of my step. Lara curses somewhere above me, and I grin to myself as I hear her climbing down.

She catches up to me a few moments later and I feel her hands on my shoulder. I put up with her inspecting me for damage, with a roll of my eyes. "I'm okay, but I'm not going to stop you if you want to frisk me."

"Yes, you're so dangerous," she says. Her sarcasm is so dry it makes me thirsty. And a little irritated. I can be dangerous. I'm not helpless. Maybe I can't shoot an arrow through someone's wedding ring at a hundred yards, but I like to think I can help Lara out if she needs me to. No. I _will_ help her out, whether she wants me to or not. We're partners. I can't accept anything else.

I poke her in the ribs. "I can be."

"Sam, you know I don't want you-"

I cut her off. "You've taught me to shoot, you've ran me through hours of edible plants and how to make a fire and all kinds of shit like that. I can handle this."

She looks at me, and I catch the smallest of twitches at the corner of her lips. I'm not sure what it means, but I like it when I can make her smile.


	7. 7 - Lara

I'm proud of her. I know I've run Sam ragged in the past. I know I can be a little paranoid and a little mother hen around her. I can't really help it. She thrives in the light of a club or among all the boys in the bar. But I forget all the adventures we had backpacking and exploring in University, sometimes. She's capable of keeping up with me, I just have trouble keeping up with her. She used to drag me out to clubs and bars for hours at a time.

We've only been out to a club three times since Yamatai. Attempts to be normal for a few hours, to let sound and music wash over us. The first time, I broke some poor bloke's nose. He danced up behind me, and like a rubber band snapping I was back on Yamatai. The second time went a little better, until some perverted older man grabbed onto Sam. Sam paid him off after I broke his wrist, but it wouldn't have taken much for me to break his neck instead. The third time was just before this trip. In part, it is the reason we've gone as quickly as we had. I needed to get away from civilization. I need to be part of the wilds and the ruins again.

I'm not normal any more. I'm a wild thing. Not that I was ever one for the club scene, but I have trouble when large numbers of people are round. I always preferred being solitary, but never minded people. Now, I jump when a car backfires. I hear my name and blink my eyes as I return to the here and now. "Sorry, Sam. I was just thinking about something."

"Like what?"

"Like how I'd probably fall apart without you."

Sam has this look she gets when she's trying to not gush with emotion. She knows I'm not fond of public displays in general, and I think she's realizing that she can't pounce me for kisses when we're out and about. Most of the time. At least I hope she does. I kiss her anyway - who's going to watch us here? It wasn't like we didn't hold hands at the drop of a hat. I don't want her to feel like I don't want her, and I feel suddenly a little raw. I really would fall apart without her. She's the only family I have left.

I break the kiss and don't risk looking at her, before moving farther down the tunnel. I can hear water, and I flash my torch around to make sure I'm not going to topple suddenly. I had enough water-slides to last me a lifetime on that island. I'm pretty sure half my scars are from those.

"Lara?" Her mouth is right next to my ear and I'm startled at how silently she'd moved. I move my hand away from the axe at my hip, and take Sam's wrist.

"Careful." I'm a lot better than I used to be. But it's still a nightmare of mine that I might kill her. That wild thing that woke within me on Yamatai. Sometimes she wants blood. I have no doubt that under the right circumstances, I could do it all over again.

"Sorry." Her sheepish smile relaxes me, and I let her go, turning back towards the tunnel as we emerge into a chamber.

I move my torch around, and use the flash on my camera to help illuminate where we are. To my left, Sam is doing the same thing, and together we complete a full sweep in just a few minutes. We work so well together that I question why I thought I could leave ever leave her behind.

I approach some writing and try to decipher it. Something about the worthy. It's surrounded by more faces, their expressions distorted in horror. The hackles on the back of my neck raise and I have the distinct impression something is watching. The ground rumbles, and the world drops out from under me.


	8. 8 - Sam

We really are efficient. I'm patting myself on the back when there's a rumbling and Lara disappears. I feel this sense of acute panic - we'd just found each other all over again, I can't afford to lose her. Not now, not ever. I steel myself and try to look down to where she fell. There's only an inky blackness. The ground shifts and then I tumble into the void.

I hit an incline, and roll. I can't see where I'm going, or even where I've come from. The light on my camera is spinning around with me. I catch glimpses of faces. Laughing faces, crying faces, downright evil faces. It was as though the builders of this place wanted to mock those of us who dare to intrude. What's more disturbing is the laughter I can hear. Distant and echoing, a thousand voices reverberating through the stone caverns.

Daylight! I see it and then I'm in it and there's nothing between me and the ground but hundreds of feet of air. I'm screaming. Somehow, over my own voice I hear my name and then Lara is grasping onto my hand. The sudden stop sends jolts of pain shooting from my shoulder. I look up.

Lara has her fingers digging into a ledge, her stance wide as she tries to distribute the load of both our bodies against the face of a mountain. Her muscles are straining, bulging in her arms and neck. She really ought to be shaking but the only trembling I feel right now is my own. "Sam…A little self-help would be appreciated right now."

Where she finds the strength to even speak right now I don't know. All I can say is she's beautiful. My beautiful, badassed goddess. I could go on about her biceps right now, but instead I make some kind of wise-crack about going on a diet, grabbing onto the mountain with my other hand and securing my feet. I realize that they're holds. Hand holds, and foot holds, weathered by time. I look up at Lara again, then hazard a look down. "Hey Lara, there's a temple."

"I think we've proven ourselves worthy."

I give her a look, and she just smiles at me. My arms suddenly feel less tired. "Well there's only one way to go, Lady Croft."

"Sam, what did I say about calling me that?"

We start our descent. One of the things we started doing after Yamatai was rock climbing. Lara had spent so much time scaling cliffs and leaping across chasms that she'd developed a sort of fondness for it. It was a way of coping, I think and because I didn't want to ever be a burden, I went along with her. My best friend… scratch that, my _girlfriend_ was motherfucking Assassin's Creed or something.

Lara and I call out hand holds and encouragement to each other as we go. Normally we'd have rope and safety lines, so we're extra careful, but with the strain in my muscles, and the feel of the wind and sound of Lara's voice, I'm able to forget all the weird things that happen to us. Sun Queens and moving statues and laughing faces… It's just us and the mountain.

It's kind of weird. Between the silence and the climbing talk, there's joking and chatting. Sure, it's a little breathless and short since neither of us can spare much breath, but it's still there. I won't lie, I worry about what we'd be like after this trip. If we'll still be friends, if things will still be easy and fluid between us. It had gotten rough for awhile. There was a whole week we didn't talk to each other. Lara broke first, and after we'd talked things went back to normal. The crazy sort of normal a couple of globe trotting adventure seekers with major PTSD could get up to anyway.

But the way we're talking, it makes me feel like everything will be okay. It'll never be the way it was before Yamatai, but I'm okay with that. I like the person I've become. I love the Lara I see now. Confident and strong, yet still having that core that I first saw way back in the day. She's still Lara, she's just a little weathered now.


	9. 9 - Lara

Even I need a rest by the time we get to the bottom. It's a valley, nestled snuggly out of sight of anywhere but the air. Climbing back out of it would be a chore, but the thrill of discovery has taken hold. When was the last time any living human had come into this valley? Was it a long time ago? More recent? Were there lost explorers who had come here? I have the distinct impression that we aren't alone, yet I can see no sign of recent human habitation. Just a pillar that has fallen on it's side, and more of those carved faces.

Their eyes stare at us out of deep, dark sockets, and their faces are a mixture of emotions. Macabre grins and mournful eyes. Some of them seem tortured, while others mock us. Most of them are malicious, and that feeling of being watched returns. Every muscle in my body tenses, ready to run or fight. Those eyes don't look human. They don't look like anything at all.

_Lara is like a wolf_, I'd overheard Sam say once. It had been to Jonah. I'd felt bad listening in, but I couldn't disagree with her. _I don't think she'll ever be tamed again._

There's a clicking sound and I realize I've taken the safety off of my gun. I look at Sam, and she gives me a worried look back, before drawing the gun's twin from her belt. I don't remember unholstering the weapon, but I don't put it back as we push our way through underbrush that grows thicker, and thicker and thicker. I take the lead. Sam has our back. I tell myself that we'll be okay, that if I can trust anyone with my back, it will be Sam. My body doesn't like the idea as much. Walking into danger alone is a lot easier than doing so when worrying about another person.

"Watch your step. There could be pit traps, or worse," I say. My voice sounds a little distant, and I'm surprised at how well I can talk while all my senses are honed for danger. We probably need to change the memory cards and batteries, and we take a break in a clearing to do just that. While Sam fiddles with the cameras, I try to figure out what has me so on edge. It's enough to worry me, and I think I need to say something. We've already said it, but I want to say it again. "Sam, I love you."

"Don't."

"I..what?" I look over at her. She's glaring at me, and I could swear there were tears in her eyes. I reach for her hand and she takes it. I keep my grip strong, and I'm surprised by how strong hers is.

"Don't say it like that. That's your 'we're in danger, Sam, something could happen so I want to say it' tone of voice. We're going to be fine. I trust you. Do you trust me?" She's wavering, her voice shaking but there's so much determination in her that I love her more.

I study her eyes and her face, and my shoulders relax. She's such a wonderful person, and I know I'm lucky to count her as my best friend. My girlfriend, but best friend first, always. I'm smiling when I reply, "I trust you."

"Good. Then we're going to be fine." There is a weight to Sam's words that I can't miss. iWe're going to be fine./i Maybe it is hopeful thinking, maybe it is even some confidence, but we are going to be fine. As friends, as lovers, as adventure seekers and documentary makers. I bring her hand to my lips, and I'm rewarded with that smile of hers.

I let go, and feeling more confident about the future, push further into the ruins. Of course, being fine didn't mean that I shouldn't watch where I was going. The air shifts suddenly. Something rushes towards me and I turn to both face it and move out of the way.. Dimly, as though at a great distance, I hear Sam screaming my name.


	10. 10 - Sam

"_**Lara!**_" Her name feels like it was being ripped from my throat. It was like a stone log or something, spring loaded and it was moving iso fast/i that she is going to be crushed, Lara is going to be crushed! Someone is still screaming and I vaguely realize it is me as the stone crashes against a wall.

The sound reverberates through my chest. It's the worst sound I've ever heard, at least I'm certain in that moment. "_Lara! Lara!_"

My throat aches as I pant, my feet frozen where I stand. The air is filled with dust as warm tears carve a river down my dirty face. The silence makes my chest ache, but then I hear a shuffling. My feet start moving and I bolt towards the rubble. Traps, danger, I didn't care, as long as she's alive. I see movement and hiccup, "Lara! If you're dead I'm going to _kill you!_"

"Sam…?"

The sound of her voice makes something inside of me twist into a knot. I can't breathe, there's like this weight on my chest, threatening to constrict me. I must be a sniveling mess, and I'm crying and hiccuping and I probably look like a freak. But then I see Lara and she's okay. I hug her, tightly, too tightly because she makes a distressed sound and I loosen my grip. I don't say anything more, I'm incapable of saying anything, and she doesn't either.

If Lara's freaked out, she's not giving her emotions away. She's holding me, even swaying with me a little bit and I'm bawling. It's really gross, but my chest hurts so much and my head and I'm just not ready to lose her. I'll never be ready. I have this horrible thought, that she'll do something stupid and honorable like abandon me or dump me and my fingers claw into her shirt. I can't let her go, I can't I can't.

I open my mouth to make her promise she won't ever leave me. Not to protect me. Never to protect me. It would be cruel now. Not like before we confessed our feelings, before we had each other. I can calm down, I can handle this, and I'm already starting to. But she asks me a question instead and I don't understand it. "What?"

"I said, do you want to go on a date when we get back to civilization?"

I pull my head back to look at Lara. My face is streaked, I've left snot on her shoulder, she just nearly got smushed into paste, and _that's_ the thing that's on her mind? Lara Croft, sometimes your brain mystifies me.

Apparently I was gaping, because her finger pushes my jaw closed and she says, "I know it's kind of a crazy moment for it, but I thought… I thought maybe it might reassure you."

"Oh my god…" And I start crying again. I'm this faucet that won't stop leaking because Lara's just being so sweet and she almost _died_. I love this woman so much and I punch her arm. I make sure she can't escape my most powerful pout. "Not dying, that would reassure me."

There's that dorky little smile of hers again. Her fingers find my face and wipe away the tears. I've never realized how nice that was until she does that to me. "I did this crazy flip, you know. You couldn't see it."

"Sure you did." I kiss her nose, then help her to her feet. She doesn't seem to be hurt, and wasn't limping, but I still check her over, thoroughly. She makes some kind of comment, I think asking if I was going to just strip her down right there. When I look up at her her face is the color of an apple.


	11. 11 - Lara

Sometimes I wonder what actually comes out of my mouth. Usually, I'm stammering out something awkward so I can get back to what I was really interested in. Sam dragged me to a party once, and I was nursing a drink while trying to shake off some guy that was hitting on me. I started talking about menpo, which is part of a Samurai's helmet, and his eyes predictably glazed over. Fortunately Sam rescued me and pulled me out onto the dance floor. It wasn't the first time we ever danced, but it was the first time I realized how good it felt.

Our hips had pressed together and the space between us had been the kind that was usually reserved for a lover. I hadn't cared. Her skin had been warm beneath the shimmering fabric of her dress and for the rest of that night Sam was my whole world. At least until she went home with a hot Spaniard and I went home alone. I thought at the time I'd just done my duty as wingwoman, but it wasn't until after Yamatai that I realized why it had felt like my heart was breaking. I'd wanted to be the one she took to her bed. I just hope I'm going to be enough for her.

"Lara?"

"Yes Sam?" I look at her, realizing I'd been completely elsewhere. She has a concerned look on her face, and her hand checks my head out again. "I'm fine, Sam. Just thinking about something."

"Yeah?" We start walking, and I focus most of my attention on the ruins around us and anything that might clue me in to what this place was. We had let ourselves get distracted, but I really aren't that phased by the brush with death. It was becoming something second nature to me. I'll worry about that later (which usually meant I'd ignore it). I think we need to talk about all of this, if we want any chance of not ruining things between us.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Just...us. When we were in University, how I could possibly have not noticed…" I trail off, staring at a statue. It is about four feet off the ground on a pedestal, covered in moss, most of it's face eaten away by rain and wind. But it's eyes are looking right at me. I feel a thrumming in the air, and my skin tingles. It's calling to me. I can feel it in my chest. "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah. This is kind of freaky, Lara." I'll give Sam credit. Her voice doesn't shake and she looks determined. She's probably as scared as I am, but she's learning to ignore it. A smile comes easily to my face. She called that smile dorky once.

"Can you step to the side a bit, hon?" We're standing on some kind of circular dias, and I don't want her standing on it while I try to figure out what it means. I hear her move away, and I back up myself. There's a pattern in the stone circle, and it's set into grooves. "I think we have to align this up."

"Yeah? Then what happens?" Sam's voice is to my left, and I glance over at her. She's filming the statue. I wait until she' turned around and filming me, and gesture at the stone. "It'll open the door to the temple."

I spend a few minutes talking about the statute and the designs around us, while looking for something I can use to turn the circle. I settle on a large wooden stick, and jam it into a hole. Maybe this isn't the best idea, but Sam seems to be safe where she's standing, and I smile for the camera. "Chances are we're going to be the first people entering this place in centuries."

My muscles strain, and it sticks in places, but slowly, slowly I twist it. There's a clicking sound, and the stone sinks into the ground. The statute starts to shake and that humming grows louder and more intense. It twists around suddenly and Sam disappears. In seconds I'm at the statue but it's swiveling shut. "No! Sam! Sam! _Fuck_!"

She's gone, she's gone. I've _got_ to get in there.


	12. 12 - Sam

Okay. I tell myself not to panic but it's not working. I've fallen into some kind of tunnel and when I step forward to try to push open the door the floor is gone. I understand why Lara once called Yamatai a giant sadistic slip and slide as I tumble. Something jabs into my side and I pull myself into a ball to try to protect my head. There's that laughter again, like before!

I land in a pool of frigid water and the shock makes me gasp. I'm panicking, my limbs flailing and the water pulling me under before I grasp onto rock and haul myself out of the water. It tastes _nasty_ and I cough my lungs up for god knows how long before I flop onto my back.

It's that same sort of darkness from earlier, where it seems to swallow up all light. Like there's something alive, something that's maybe a little angry, and I remember the way Yamatai had made me feel, or how Peru had sent shivers down my spin. The creeping sensation of being watched returned, and I pull myself into a corner to regroup.

My camera survived the trip, and I kiss it. I'd gotten the most rugged durable cameras we could find, knowing that even a routine expedition was hell on equipment. But then, Lara's expeditions never seem to be routine. I mimic her voice in my mind, and it calms me down. _Good purchase, Sam. You're brilliant. Come here so I can show my appreciation with my sexy, sexy lips._

Flicking on the light, I peer around. There are more of those stone faces, like before. They have so many expressions that for a moment I think they're actual people. But they don't move. The crazy thing is I don't think that's the thing that's watching me. Something _else_ is. There's only one way to go, so I start walking down a corridor. It looks ancient, carved from the stone in big chunks, with the eyes and the faces following my every step. I record everything with the camera, hoping in the safety of a studio it will be less creepy.

After ten minutes, I find myself blocked by a chasm. My light can't go down far enough to see the bottom, and it's a good five feet to the other side. What would Lara do? She'd jump that motherfucking chasm, that's what Lara would do. So I back up as far as I can, and then start to run. I shout when I jump, and for a moment it feels like I'm suspended in the air. My stomach floats inside my torso, and this giddy terror floods through every limb. I land on the other side and skid to a stop. Hugging myself, making a panicked gasping sound, I can't believe I've just done that.

I could do that again. I want to do that again! I'd probably have to later. I still don't know where I was going or how I'd get out of this place. Lara is probably trying to dig a hole just to get to me. It would be like getting between me and a nice pair of heels on sale. I'm shallow sometimes, I admit it.

I realize I've been walking on an incline for the past twenty minutes. I can hear water dripping, and the air is growing colder. That sense of being watched is stronger, but I can't tell where it's coming from. One moment it's behind me, the next above. It's like big brother, and he's giving me the creepy stalker vibes.

The hallway opens up into some kind of ritual chamber. At least that's what I think the chamber is for. I'm not the expert, so I film as much as I can, as slowly as I can, so that the expert can figure it out later. We've been doing a lot of that today, but I don't mind at all.

Footsteps interrupt me, and I swivel the camera to see Lara approaching. Oh thank god. "Sweetie! You must have been so worried, I'm so sorry but you have to check this place out!"

Something is wrong. She walks right past me so I grab her arm. When she turns towards me, I scream. Her eyes are oily black pools that shimmer and ripple, and her mouth is pulled back into a vicious grin. The skin is too pale, stretched too far back, and there are gaps in her cheeks, but I can't see bone, just more of that blackness.

Jerking back, I let go, landing on my butt and scrambling back away from the _thing_ that looks like Lara. It follows me. I don't see it's hand move but it's holding Lara's axe and I roll out of the way, my cheek burning from the sparks as it hits the stone near my head.

I don't know if it's Lara, or something that's...borrowing her face, but it's _fast_. Faster than me, faster than anything human should move. I don't have a choice. _God, Lara, if that's you I'm sorry._ I fumble for the gun and fire.


	13. 13 - Lara

The chambers seem endless. Room after room, most of them filled with more of those stone faces. My clothes stick to my skin, damp from a tumble into some kind of pool earlier. Not the worse thing I've ever swam in. That's a toss up between the Pit and shantytown. It had still tasted terrible.

I hope Sam is okay. I'm not going to accept any answer other than yes. If I didn't have her in my life, I don't know where I'd be right now. Dead. Insane. A nervous wreck. I distract myself by recording my journey, marking my path with some chalk. This place seems a lot older than the ruins above ground, and much of the imagery that decorates the walls doesn't match anything from the area. I'm almost certain I've seen something like it before, but I can't quite place where.

I miss the banter with Sam. She has a comment for everything. She also serves as a foil for my little lectures. An audience I can judge the reaction of, and someone I'm willing to make a fool out of myself in front of.

The hallways twist and turn, and it feel like I've been walking for miles. It is so easy to get lost down here, but I have this feeling of being guided. I'm taking all the right turns, and investigating the right rooms. At one point, I pass a large ritual chamber. I spare it a glance, and would have spent more time there, except that presence continues to pull me forward.

After another twenty or thirty minutes, my pathway abruptly ends. It's a cavern, the top a hundred meters over head. Pillars and statues are carved into the walls, in the same creepy design as all the faces we've seen today.

There's a raised platform in the center of the cavern. I can't see what's on it, and it's surrounded by that same water I'd fallen into before. I need to find Sam, but whatever is in this cavern is important. I try to turn away. Sam could be hurt, or dying or worse, what was I _doing_? A warmth settled in my chest. Like something is trying to reassure me.

I'm studying the area, looking for something to lower the platform or help me across to it when I hear footsteps. I turn, gun raised and torch in a tactical position, only to face Sam. "Sam!" I lower my weapon when I see her.

I can't even describe the feeling in my chest. Relief. Just relief. It's a feeling that gets replaced by cold fear as her eyes seem to absorb the light of my torch. It's like looking into a night sky. The blackness rippled, and her mouth is stretched. I thought I saw patches of that empty color all over her skin.

"Sam?! What are you?! What have you done with her!?" I sight down my pistol, and I know I can put a bullet in her forehead. The most terrifying part of this situation is how my hand isn't shaking. I can put a bullet in her head. It's easy.

A gunshot echoes through the stone, but its not from me. The creature looks startled, then it charges at me viciously. I press the trigger, and watch as Sam's head explodes in a cloud of black vapor. That's going to haunt my dreams.

By the time she hits the ground, there's nothing left but a mist that collects around my feet. Only then does my hand start to shake. I hear a voice shouting my name in the distance, and I lift the gun to the air and fire it. Then I shout, "Sam! It's me! I'm in here!"

She comes out of the darkness and I run up to her. She's okay, she's okay. I hadn't hurt her, that hadn't been her. "Are you okay? Was that your gun? What did you shoot?"

"I like how you jump right to what and not who," she says, and I press my lips against her forehead. The motion helps still my shaking. "It was this thing. It looked like you, but it wasn't you. God, what if that had been you?"

"It wasn't me Sam. And that wasn't you I shot. It was...I'm so sorry, it was just so easy to pull the trigger."

She looks up at me, and now she's the one drying my face with her fingers. I let her, and she smiles. "You knew it wasn't me. Where it counted. You knew. That's why you could do it."

I breathe again, and nod. "I don't know what those things were, but they can be harmed. We'll need to be careful of them."

"Do you feel like you've been drawn to this place?" Sam's voice is filled with curiosity, and a little wonder. More than anything, that fills me with resolve - she wants to know more, too. I point towards the platform.

"There's something there, but we need to find a way across, hopefully without getting wet."

Sam shudders, and I rub her shoulder absently. "Ugh, that water is nasty."

Stepping away from her, I walk to the edge of the water and kneel, peering down into it. It's so black, it's like a starless night sky. I have a theory and I decide I don't much like it. Straightening, I turn around. My torch can only cut through so much of the darkness, but I think I see some kind of chain. There's a twin across from it, but too far away to be able to access both at once.

"Sam, can you shine your torch over there?" With her light added to mine, I can better see what's carved into the wall. "I think those are instructions."

"Why would someone carve instructions into their super secret hidden tomb? I hate tombs."

Sam sounds a little grumpy, and she adds a pout to it when I laugh at her. "Probably because the only people who make it this far are worthy. Come on, we need to climb up to those chains."


	14. 14 - Sam

I'm so sick of climbing, but there's a thrumming in the air. It could just be the excitement of discovery but it helps spur me on. I check the cameras, replace the batteries and SD cards one more time, then I'm ready. I'm going to discover something with Lara and this is just so amazing. My aches and pains fade and the fear from earlier is gone. If this is what she feels, I want in. I want more of it. I want the fix, too, 'cause it's really like a drug.

There's no clear way up, no ladder, or hand holds. Just faces carved into the stone. I have this irrational fear of my fingers and toes being bitten off as I start my climb. A part of me thinks that fear isn't so crazy. "Last one up gets a spanking!"

I hear her laugh to my left and her response nearly makes me lose my grip. Did she_ really_ just say she looked forward to it? I look over at her and realize she's used my distraction to gain several feet on me. That cheating bitch! I climb faster, but I know it's no use. I'll never catch up and besides, I kind of hope she follows through on her threat. I've known her since we were barely in bras and I don't even know half her kinks. The thought of finding those out helps make me move faster.

She's waiting for me at the top, and helps me up. I lean against her, and search her eyes. She's not afraid. She's _excited_ and I devour that excitement, using it to push away my own fear, and in the process I discover, hey, I'm excited too! I don't need Lara to feed into my excitement. I totally need her for other things, but if I start thinking that way we won't leave for a long time.

"Okay Sam, I think we need to tug on these chains at the same time. Grab that one, and I'll grab this one." She walks over to the chain, and I move towards mine. I hope she knows what will happen. This could be a trap and I'd almost lost her once already today. Swallowing, I wait for her cue.

"Now!"

When we pull the chains down, the ground shakes beneath us, and then there's this loud, heavy sound, like big stone gears grinding together. A slab slides out from beneath what we're standing on and moves jerkingly towards the center platform.

I'm expecting a gust of wind, or the sound of thunder, something that would have accompanied all this on Yamatai, but there's just that click-clacking sound of the gears and the thudding of the slab as it reaches the platform.

Lara comes to my side and our hands find each other. The new bridge is wide enough for three Jonahs to walk across, so we naturally find ourselves in step beside each other.

The closer we get, the louder the thrum in the air gets and the hair on my arms stands up, like there's an electrical charge in the air. I move the camera on my shoulder with my free hand to center on what we were approaching, musing on better ways to mount it. Lara is silent, and so I'm silent. The water laps gently below us, and the only warmth in this whole cave seems to come from our fingers twined together. And whatever rests on the platform.

We're in this together, and together we step onto the platform. At the center of the platform is a raised stone dias. Lara's eyes light up and she's already explaining the significance of what we're seeing. It's an altar or a shrine, and nestled into a place of honor is a human skull. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it, but those terrible faces we've been seeing everywhere aren't present. Instead, there are swirls of white and red paint. I don't know what they depict, but I steady the camera on them so we can inspect later.

She's kneeling in front of it, after I complete a circle, and I crouch next to her. I realize then that the skull isn't made of bone. It's made of some kind of gem or crystal. It's the source of the thrumming, and it feels warm. I touch it, and it feels like something jolts awake inside me. I can't explain it, and my vision is a little hazy for a moment before the sensation passes.

"Whatever called us here wanted us to find this. Do you know the legends surrounding crystal skulls?"

I look at her, wrinkling my nose up as I made a face. She hadn't noticed my momentary distraction which was good. This was her moment! "No, but they ruined Indiana Jones."

"Don't get me started on those movies and the _inaccuracies_.." I clamp my hand over Lara's mouth, because she's about to get started and I've already heard it like five times. I wait for her to roll her eyes, then I let go.

"So what now?"

"Well, there are a dozen different stories depending on who you ask, but the gist of it is if you collect a certain number of these skulls and bring them together, they'll unlock some kind of knowledge. I always dismissed them as ramblings of some eighteenth century hoaxters, but after Yamatai…"

Lara exhaled, and I realize what she's about to say, just as the words come out of her mouth. "We need to go back to Peru."

My heart sinks. It had been a creepy, tiring experience, but after the things we'd gone through here the similarities were impossible to ignore. "But sweetie! We almost _died_. And more importantly, you owe me a date!"

A little smile tugs at the corner of her lips as she lifts the skull off of the altar, and gently wraps it in a cloth. "I suppose I should do some research as to other possible locations. So we'll have time go on our date. I want to do proper prep work on this. And then..."

"And then," I finish for her, with a melodramatic sigh. "We go back to Peru."

**This was fun to write, and I'd intended it to be a one shot right up until chapter 4, but then a world started to build itself. Lara and Sam will return (There is that date, after all). Part two of this adventure is also almost complete, and much longer. I hope anyone who's read this will enjoy that one too!**


End file.
